Some football jobs are appointments. This one feels like a national homecoming.

Zinedine Zidane, the quiet genius who once carried French football on his boots, has finally taken charge of France. The French Football Federation announced his appointment on Tuesday, ending years of waiting and speculation around one of the most anticipated coaching moves in world football.

For fans in India, the Gulf and across the football world, this is not just another managerial change. Zidane is not arriving as a regular former player. He is arriving as a symbol, a memory, and now, a man expected to build the next chapter.

The 54-year-old replaces Didier Deschamps, whose long spell began in 2012 and ended earlier this month after France finished fourth at the World Cup. Deschamps leaves with a record that will be difficult for any successor to match. He took France to World Cup glory in 2018 and then to another final four years later.

That is the scale of the job Zidane has accepted. France are not a fallen team looking for rescue. They are a modern powerhouse trying to stay at the top.

Zidane had been seen for years as the natural candidate. The timing always seemed less about whether he would take the job and more about when the door would finally open. Since leaving Real Madrid in 2021, he had stayed away from club football, even as major opportunities came his way.

At his unveiling in Paris, Zidane made clear how long he had waited for this moment. “The France job was the only one I wanted,” he said. “I’ve had offers over these four or five years to take charge of a club and I turned them all down for the French national team.”

That line matters. In modern football, elite coaches rarely wait. Clubs with money, global brands and strong squads keep calling. Zidane chose patience. He also chose pressure.

He now follows a path already taken by two former France teammates. Laurent Blanc coached the national side from 2010 to 2012. Deschamps then took over and built one of the longest and most successful reigns in international football.

Zidane and Deschamps share more than a dressing-room past. They were part of France’s 1998 World Cup triumph, the night that turned Zidane into a national figure beyond sport. Zidane also won the 2000 European Championship as a player, giving him a place in one of the most cherished periods in French football history.

That history will help him. It will also follow him everywhere.

The emotional pull is obvious. Zidane as France coach sounds perfect on paper. But international football is not built on nostalgia. It is built on short camps, limited training time, quick decisions and brutal knockout matches.

Zidane’s coaching record is extraordinary, but it comes from one club. He has managed only Real Madrid. That spell, though, was historic. He led the Spanish giants to three straight Champions League titles in 2016, 2017 and 2018, a feat unmatched in the competition’s modern era.

That achievement gives him instant authority with players. It also shows he knows how to handle dressing rooms packed with stars. France usually have no shortage of elite talent, and that brings its own challenge. Managing ability is one thing. Managing status, roles and expectations is another.

At Real Madrid, Zidane looked calm from the outside. He rarely turned the touchline into theatre. His best teams often carried a simple message: trust the players, organise the details, and let big-match temperament do the rest.

With France, the rhythm will be different. A national coach cannot build habits every day. He must judge form from a distance, choose quickly, and make players believe in a plan that gets very little rehearsal.

That is where Zidane’s playing past may become useful. He knows what it means to carry France’s shirt under maximum pressure. He has lived the weight that comes with national expectation.

For French supporters, the handover also has a personal edge. Deschamps was not merely a coach. He was the steady figure of more than a decade. He gave France trophies, finals and a hard competitive identity. Replacing him is like replacing a system, not just a name on the bench.

Zidane will therefore face two tasks at once. He must honour what Deschamps built, while proving this is not just a sentimental appointment.

The business of football will also watch closely. France are one of the sport’s biggest national brands. A Zidane-led France side will attract huge attention from broadcasters, sponsors and event organisers. In the Gulf, where European football already commands large audiences, the appointment adds another layer of interest.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Riyadh have become regular gathering points for global football audiences, sponsor events and fan communities. Big national teams now carry commercial weight far beyond their home countries. Zidane’s return to the France setup will travel easily across those markets.

For Indian fans too, the story has a familiar appeal. Many grew up watching Zidane at France and Real Madrid. His name cuts across club loyalties. Even supporters who do not follow French football closely understand the aura around him.

But aura does not win matches by itself.

Zidane will be judged on results, especially because he inherits a team used to going deep in major tournaments. Fourth place at the World Cup was enough to end one era. That says everything about France’s standards.

There will be questions about style. Will Zidane make France more expressive? Will he lean on control, structure and big-game management? Will he refresh the squad quickly or protect continuity after Deschamps?

Those answers will come only when matches begin. For now, the appointment gives France clarity after the end of a defining reign.

Zidane waited years for this job. He turned down club chances. He kept himself available for one bench, one badge, one responsibility.

Now the waiting is over. France have turned to their most iconic modern footballer to lead them from the dugout. The romance is powerful. The challenge is even bigger.